Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - Thursday, 12 July 2001
Mike Cooper, UPI Science News
Pregnant women with syphilis can pass the disease on to their unborn children, many of whom die before birth or shortly after birth, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Infants who live can suffer developmental problems, seizures, blindness, deafness or retardation.
The CDC reported there were 529 reported cases of congenital syphilis, where the disease is passed from mother to child during pregnancy or delivery, in the United States last year. That was a 51 percent reduction from the 1,077 cases reported in 1997.
The syphilis rate among women aged 15 to 44 declined 38 percent during the same period, researchers said.
"With this decline in congenital syphilis, we have substantially improved infant health in the United States," CDC Director Dr. Jeffrey Koplan said.
Despite the overall reduction, infants born to black women were 32 times more likely to have syphilis than those born to white mothers. Congenital syphilis rates declined 58 percent among whites and 60 percent among blacks between 1997 and 2000, the CDC said.
"Syphilis disproportionately affects African-Americans living in poverty, primarily in the South and in selected urban areas," said Dr. Judith Wasserheit, director of the CDC's STD prevention program.
Efforts to test all women for syphilis during the early stages of pregnancy have led to the decline in congenital syphilis, researchers said. In areas where syphilis prevalence is high, the CDC recommends that women be tested again during the third trimester of pregnancy and at the time of delivery.
"We can eliminate congenital syphilis from the United States by screening pregnant women for syphilis, and treating them with a single-dose of penicillin, an inexpensive, widely available antibiotic that is effective and safe for both mother and child," said Dr. Helene Gayle, the director of the CDC's Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention.
During the year 2000, the congenital syphilis rate for blacks was 49.3 cases per 100,000 live births. It was 22.6 cases per 100,000 live births for Hispanics and 1.5 cases per 100,000 live births for whites.
"Elimination of congenital syphilis is a feasible goal because of the limited number of cases and its highly concentrated geographic distribution," said Dr. George Counts, the director of CDC's syphilis elimination program.
The CDC reported last year that the nation's overall syphilis rate was 2.5 cases per 100,000 people in 1999, an 88 percent decline from 1990 and the lowest level since reporting began in 1942.
"History shows that syphilis rates tend to run in 7- to 10-year cycles, so unless we take action to eliminate syphilis now, we could once again experience a rise in syphilis rates," Wasserheit said.
"The way to eliminate congenital syphilis is to eliminate adult syphilis in women of reproductive age," she said.
The disease, once known as "bad blood," is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. It has also been called "the great imitator" because its symptoms are similar to other diseases.
Syphilis also plays a role in the spread of infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The CDC said the presence of syphilis increases the chances of acquiring and spreading HIV infection at least two- to five-fold.
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